


Stuck in Love

by cecilkirk



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...
Genre: Fluff, M/M, gabilliam - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 08:19:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6559108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilkirk/pseuds/cecilkirk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse at the combined termination of two men's bachelorhood.<br/>(aka they get married)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sarajevo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarajevo/gifts).



**  
  
**“Yeah yeah yeah, I’ll totally come down to the studio soon,” Gabe says quickly into the phone. “I promise, I just--”

“Gabe?”

At the sound of his name in that voice, he is quick to straighten his priorities and hang up the phone.

“What?” he asks, standing from his spot in the hotel recliner. His voice is louder than William’s, and William cringes out of respect--it was three in the morning, and he was afraid Gabe might wake people up.

Gabe, however, was not afraid, and a night’s worth of partying only provided an effortless and unintended increase in volume.

William ducked his head at the sound of Gabe’s voice. Gabe took it for the admittance of a secret. A small shaking nervousness begins to course through him.

“I…”

William looks up at Gabe, then looks away, down at his feet. Even through the dim lighting of the lobby, Gabe can see him blush.

“What’s on your mind, Beckett?” he asks gently, dropping his voice and taking a step toward William. What could he be so afraid to say? What could he be hiding?

William brushes his hair back with his fingers, shifting his weight frantically. He still wouldn’t look Gabe in the eyes. “It’s…” He gives an awkward choke of a laugh, and Gabe’s stomach drops.

“Hey,” Gabe says softly, touching William’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. You can tell me anything, _novio_.”

William swallows and looks up at Gabe with wide, wide eyes. Gabe feels lost, useless, everything negative hitting him at once. He just wanted to help William get it off his chest, help him free himself of worry. He didn’t need to; Gabe would always be ready to deal with whatever William could throw his way.

Gabe slides his hand down William’s arm and finds his hand, interlacing their fingers and stepping closer yet. “I’m here for you,” he says. He hopes it will draw the secret out of William, the right amount of persuasion and promise of acceptance to guide out William’s hidden truth.

“It’s kind of embarrassing, and just--I never thought I would do this,” William says, a small shy smile painted on his lips. “I…”

Gabe waits with bated breath as William trails off. He feels like he’s teetering on an edge, the potential for plummeting imminent and real. He doesn’t know what to expect, and it kills him.

After a few moments William shakes his head, grinning to himself. “Never mind,” he says. He lifts his chin to meet Gabe’s lips, kissing him softly. “Another time,” he says, looking into Gabe’s eyes.

Something about William’s tone of voice makes him blush, but he doesn’t know why. “Oh, um. Okay. If you’re sure,” Gabe stammers with unexpected nervousness.

“I am,” William grins. He places his free hand on the back of Gabe’s neck, pulling him down for another kiss soaked in artificial sunlight.

“Love you,” he says as he pulls away.

Gabe searches William’s eyes for whatever he’s hiding, desperate to pry out the secret from between William’s ribs as if it were a parasite. “Ditto, Beckett,” he says, and William rolls his eyes. He gives Gabe’s hand a squeeze before leaving the lobby and heading to his room.

 

 

 

“You have to be more specific than ‘weird as hell.’”

“He’s just--I don’t know,” Gabe says. “He’s got something he wants to tell me but won’t.”

“...Oh,” comes the static-scratched response from the other side of the country.

“Don’t ‘oh’ me, Pete, you know I won’t take that well.” Gabe picks at a nonexistent stain on the bedspread. He keeps his voice low so he can hear the shower running through the thin hotel walls.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Gabe,” Pete says stiffly.

“Tell me it’s a good thing,” Gabe says quickly, forcing out humor to mask his anxiety. He tears apart threads with his fingernails.

“...Man, I don’t want to lie to you.”

Gabe freezes.

“In all honesty, if he was about to say it, he values your relationship. But he hesitated, and hesitation is never good.”

Gabe can’t make his voice work. He lets Pete continue to fill the void between their voices.

“He’s afraid whatever he’s about to say could ruin what you have,” Pete says with hollow finality. “I--I’m sorry, Gabe. I really think that’s what’s going on.”

The water stops striking the tile. Wordlessly, Gabe hangs up the phone. He expected he would feel fear, worry, maybe even anger, but, shit, he didn’t feel anything. He couldn’t fathom the reality Pete had brought to his attention. He had no idea he was living a life that could lead to this.

He had no idea he gave William the ability to break his heart.

As William steps out of the shower with boxers on, he bends to kiss Gabe on the forehead. Gabe won’t look at him.

“Who were you talking to?” William asks.

Gabe’s face burns. “Pete,” he offers. “Talking about recording, all that fun shit.” A truth within a lie--that would work, right? After all, hadn’t that been their relationship now this whole time? Every date, every kiss, every promise was now empty and meaningless, surrounding whatever William was keeping inside his ribs. Away from Gabe.

William frowns at Gabe, unable to gauge his response. “Oh,” he says. “Okay.”

Gabe watches William cross the room and head to his suitcase. If he weren’t so numb, he would feel bad for lying. If he weren’t so numb, he would appreciate the irony of that situation.

If he weren’t so numb, he would say something.

 

 

 

The sun is just dipping below the wave-based horizon. A night wind is beginning to pick up, swirling around the two of them. The sand between their toes is growing cold. As they walked down the beach they found themselves in a world of borders and changes, ends and beginnings. They were witnessing a world dying and a new one being born in its ashes. They were captivated by nature’s abhorrence of staying the same for too long.

William stops walking and pulls his hand from Gabe’s, looking him in the eyes unabashedly.

“Gabe, I just want to say that I’m sorry.”

He blinks, stomach knotting. It feels like waiting for the proverbial train to hit him--inevitable, destructive, horrendous. Gabe holds his breath.

As he does this, William sucks in one and holds it for a moment to steady his nerves.

“I’m--I’m sorry for being...weird, I guess, lately. I can tell it made you really worried, and I never meant to.”

Gabe wants to look away, but he can’t. Something in William’s tone of voice won’t let him.

“I...look, Gabe,” William says firmly. “I don’t really know how to say this, but, um--”

“I love you,” Gabe blurts.

William blinks rapidly, drawing his head back in confusion. “I love you too, babe,” he says. “What--?”

“Whatever it is, I’ll still love you,” Gabe says, words dripping from behind his teeth. “There’s nothing you could ever do or have done that would make me stop loving you.”

William’s eyes drop, but he smiles sweetly. Gabe doesn’t know what to make of it.

“Gabe, I’’m not--it’s not a bad thing, sunshine,” he says.

“...What?”

William shakes his head, grinning to himself. “It’s not bad. I’m not hiding some huge, horrible secret from you. It’s…”

William covers his face with his hands for a moment, and Gabe doesn’t feel any less confused.

“Gabe, I...I love you. I love you a lot. And I don’t know how to say it so you could ever possibly know how I feel.” William grins shyly. He blushes, and it complements the setting sun. “I’m nervous and my hands are shaking and I forgot what I had planned to say.”

Gabe snorts, and a grin blooms on his lips. Gradually, his stomach begins to unknot. William attempts to flatten his windswept hair, which makes Gabe laugh--it was pointless in this weather.

“But, um...shit, sorry,” William says through a nervous giggle, wringing his hands. “You...you mean so much to me, Gabe. I used to hate romantic cliches. Stomach full of butterflies, nervousness on the first date, a shitty first kiss...you gave me a reason to love those cliches because we lived them all together.”

Gabe feels himself blush harder, hotter. Like a rolodex of photographs Gabe remembers all of those milestones from the beginning, everything that had started it all.

He grins down at William, who beams back with captured sunlight in his eyes.

“And I figure that if we’ve already been this cliched, we can’t stop now.”

William reaches into the pocket of Gabe’s hoodie he’s wearing. Gabe feels his heart stop because wait, no, this wasn’t really happening, he wasn’t really going to--

William takes a step closer to Gabe, struggling to maintain eye contact as he pulls out a box. “Gabriel Eduardo Saporta,” William says, beginning to drop down to one knee, “will you--?”

His attempt at a perfectly cliched proposal is halted by Gabe’s hug--swift and sure, pulling William back up to his full height and wrapping his arms around William’s neck.

“I didn’t even finish,” William laughs as he pulls Gabe in by his waist.

After a few moments Gabe pulls back, and William’s smile drops.

“Babe, please,” William says, voice thinning. “If you cry, I’m going to cry.”

Gabe grins like he may never get the chance again. And he never will--nothing could ever make him happier. He quickly wipes his cheeks, and William takes his left hand.

“I can’t--I can’t believe you just proposed to me on a fucking beach,” Gabe says, voice drenched in a laugh.

William slides the ring on Gabe’s finger, then slowly interlaces their fingers.

“Anything for you, sunshine,” he mutters against Gabe’s lips before kissing him.

Between them is nothing but crisp evening wind; around them is nothing but stars and city lights. Somewhere in the world the sun was still setting, but not here, not anymore. With the passing of day came change holy and perfect and symmetrical. Waves ceased crashing as they kissed, and constellations were the only witnesses of this new change on the shore. Gabe is aware of William’s lips, their fingers, and the cool metal feels around his finger. Somewhere in the world, people are anticipating routine. For Gabe and William, a new routine was just about to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

The reception is illuminated by candles on the tables and floor, small flickering dots of light like the comfort of nearby stars. Silence fills the air, full and observant. Gabe walks toward William across the empty makeshift dance floor of the gymnasium, stepping over lines like they mean nothing because they do--a world of division is not for them anymore.

“May I have this dance, _marido_?”

Gabe holds his hand out to William. He beams as he takes Gabe’s hand.

The silence hangs deafening for a few moments longer, and Gabe positions them, ready for a waltz. William looks up at him with warm, ecstatic eyes, but Gabe remains stoic. Gwen Stefani's voice thobs out of the speakers, Gabe leads them in a fast waltz, and William is laughing too hard to dance correctly. Friends and loved ones trickle onto the dance floor in hesitant confusion as “Hollaback Girl” breaks the silence.

William drops his hands from Gabe and rests them on his knees, doubling over from laughter. Gabe feels a grin warm his lips, and he presses it to William’s forehead as he stands up.

“You--I can’t believe you…”

William shakes his head, still laughing. Gabe kisses him, arms around his waist and losing himself in the motion of the crowd. Their kiss is the collision of grins, lips matching unevenly. Not a semblance of separation, but instead something like taxidermy, solidifying what separated them. Gone are the days of distinction and difference. Gabe pulls back and ruffles William’s hair, hand firm on his waist, delighting in how the fabric of his dress shirt feels in Gabe’s palm, how his ring feels between his own knuckles. After today, there would be nothing more to keep them apart.

William grins almost sheepishly. “You’re a loser, you know that?”

Dropping his hand from William’s hair to his cheek, Gabe strokes William’s cheekbone with his thumb. All he would ever need was in front of him, grinning at his touch, drenched in his love. Gabe is struck with the realization that he has found all the happiness he will ever need.

He presses a kiss to William’s cheek where his hand had been previously like it was a stamp on a letter, the finishing touches of his promises.

He mutters an “I love you” against William’s cheek. William presses his own promise to Gabe’s lips.

Gabe thinks of the manmade stars at their feet and gracing the tables surrounding them. A slow song is dripping through the speakers, and William presses his head into Gabe’s shoulder. He feels like he is on top of the world, and he never wants to fall.

 

 

 

They had been home for less than four hours when Gabe awakens.

Sunlight has saturated the sheets, bathing them in warmth. This is exactly why Gabe liked the futon and why he insisted they sleep there last night--it was just beneath the window and closer to the ground than their bed, and Gabe could look up at the sky and feel impossibly small. A smattering of clouds dusted the sky. He had never felt more at peace in his life.

As if to affirm this the sheets rustle and twist beside him. William is trying to block out the sun.

“Morning, sunshine,” Gabe says. He brings his arm over William’s bare waist, delighting at the warmth of his skin. William presses his back into Gabe’s chest, keeping his arms around his head to hold up the sheets.

Gabe laughs, pulling the sheet over himself and joining William in the illuminated shadows.

“You can’t hide from the sun forever,” Gabe says.

William rolls over, returning Gabe’s smile languidly. “Just you watch.”

Gabe beams, looking over William, taking in everything. He was so lucky. So goddam lucky.

“Hey,” Gabe says.

“What?”

Gabe pulls out William’s left hand from beneath the pillow, interlacing their fingers. Gabe loves the effortless intimacy of it.

“We got married,” Gabe says slowly.

William snorts in good humor. “That’s right.”

“We…”

Gabe lets wonder and gratitude give his words voice. For once in his life, he thinks about what he is about to say before he says it.

“We didn’t need to,” he says. “We didn’t need to make it official.”

Something like worry flickers across William’s face, darkening his features. “No?”

Gabe shakes his head what little he can against the pillow. “No. I would have been just as happy without it.”

William’s eyes search Gabe’s in confusion, looking for the truth he’s not providing.

“I do not need an audience to be obnoxiously in love with you,” Gabe explains.

A small blush begins to creep across William’s cheeks. “I know how you love an audience, though.”

Gabe beams, and he presses his forehead to William’s. “ _Verdad_. And now I get to show you off until you can’t stand the embarrassment.”

William says nothing and offers a kiss as a response, which Gabe gladly returns.

“I love you,” William says, squeezing his fingers gently with Gabe’s between them. He lets his eyes fall closed in bliss. “I really love you.”

Gabe turns his head, rubbing his nose against William’s to make him grin. “And I think you’re all right.”

William laughs, kissing Gabe longer, deeper, full of admiration and affection. The sheets kiss warmth into their skin, filtering out sunlight and leaving them with a soft, innocuous heat. The air between them grows hotter and thicker, but they don’t care. It’s just for them; it only ever could be. Even as it brings sweat to the surface of their skin, they do not pull back the sheets. They could not spoil their first morning as husbands by dwelling in a moment ordinary. William reaches up to cup Gabe’s face, and he decides the coolness of the metal is all he needs to escape the heat of the world around them.


End file.
